LIAISON: R. MADAN (HUA)
CORE FACULTY: L. Gabriel (HUA), S. Lessing (HUA), R. Madan (HUA), S. Riddick (HUA), Y. Telliel (HUA)
AFFILIATED FACULTY: E. Boucher-Yip (HUA), A. Danielski (HUA), B. Faber (BME)
ADJUNCT INSTRUCTORS: E. Brozovsky, S. Duguay
The goal of the Professional Writing program is to prepare professionals to communicate scientific or technical content to a variety of specialized and non-specialized audiences in useful and accessible ways.
Professional Writing is an interdisciplinary major or double major that combines work in written, oral, visual, and data- based communication with a strong concentration in a scientific or technical field. Students receive individual attention from academic advisors as they design a plan of study that fulfills the program’s distribution requirements and best suits their intellectual interests and career aspirations. Majors can select courses and projects in a variety of areas, such as:
- Science writing, medical writing, health communication
- Technical writing, user documentation, online documentation
- Digital media, visual communication, information design
- Writing in the public interest, writing for non-profits
- Bilingual professional communication, translation
The Professional Writing major provides excellent preparation for students interested in careers in technical and scientific communication, writing and editing, web authoring, information design, public relations, medical writing, translation, and intercultural communication. It prepares students for graduate work. Finally, it prepares professionals in scientific or technical fields to be lead communicators in their careers.
MQP advisors will help students design projects that focus on the student’s specific area of interest.
Writing and Rhetoric (WR) Core (Minimum 7/3 Units)
The Writing and Rhetoric core consists of 7/3 units from the following 3 categories.
Foundation Requirement (3/3 Units)
Students must complete the following 3 WR courses:
Foundation Requirement Courses
Practitioner Requirement (1/3 Units)
Students must complete at least 1 of the following WR courses:
Practitioner Requirement Courses
Additional Writing (3/3 Units)
Students must take at least 3 additional WR courses (courses with a WR prefix), WR-focused HU 3900 Inquiry Seminar in Humanities and Arts, WR-focused HU 3910 Practicum in Humanities and Arts, or equivalent ISUs that are not used for the foundation and practitioner requirements above. A WR-focused HU 3900 or HU 3910 requires approval from the Program Review Committee. No more than one course at the 1000-level can be applied.
Note: No more than 5/3 units of course work from the Humanities and Arts Requirement may be double-counted toward the WR core.
Communication Electives (2/3 Units)
The 2/3 unit of communication electives do not have to be writing or rhetoric courses but must be coherently defined and approved by the student's program review committee.
Students may draw on courses in Writing and Rhetoric (courses with a WR prefix) not used to fulfill the WR core above or suggested courses from the categories below:
Note: The required 2/3 units of communication electives may be double-counted from other programs.
Subject-Matter Concentration (Minimum 12/3 Units)
Students must take at least 12/3 units of courses or equivalent ISUs, approved by the program review committee, in the discipline(s) for which they plan to write. There are two options for fulfilling the subject-matter concentration.
Option 1: Double Majors
Double majors already obtain subject-matter expertise through their second major and are thus allowed to apply all courses or ISUs from their second major.
Option 2: Standalone Majors
Standalone PW majors may gain subject-matter expertise in up to 2 disciplines. If the student chooses 2 disciplines, the courses or ISUs must be evenly divided between those 2 disciplines (2 units in each discipline). If the student chooses only 1 discipline, all 12/3 units must be in the same discipline.
Note: The required 12/3 units of subject-matter courses or ISUs may be double-counted from other programs.
Scientific and/or Technical Electives (Minimum 6/3 Units)
Students must complete 6/3 units of scientific and/or technical courses or equivalent ISUs that are not used for the subject-matter concentration above.
Note: The required 6/3 units of scientific and/or technical electives may be double counted from other programs.
Major Qualifying Project (Minimum 3/3 Units)
The MQP should build on the student's subject-matter concentration while articulating a problem within professional writing.